SO here it is, merry Easter, everybody’s having fun!

The trees are trimmed, we’re all stocked up with chocolate, and looking forward to a roast on the big day.

Happy holidays!

Over the past few years it seems to me that Easter has almost become a kind of mini-Christmas.

The prospect of a few days off builds the excitement, families come together, children are indulged, and the adults try to feel good about their own sugary indiscretions by suggesting a nice afternoon walk.

Additionally walls of £1 Easter eggs have been building up around supermarkets for the past month, it’s possible to buy Easter cards, and there are so many egg-shaped tree decorations popping up in shops it’s as if the Easter Bunny is on overtime.

It's easy to lament the commercialisation of another religious holiday, and of course if it was all about the cold hard cash there would be cause for concern, but I kind of like that we're making more of a big deal about our spring holiday.

We have time off work, we make more of an effort to spend time with family and friends, and we come together for a feast.

This kind of big meal with loved ones is a great way to catch up, share stories, squabble, help out, enjoy each other’s company, squabble... and I also think it's important to mark celebrations, whether they are religious or not.

Otherwise life can rush past in a blur of work, school runs and chores. We need to stop and smell the… roast lamb.

We live in a seasonal country and so it’s nice to have these markers to acknowledge and enjoy each season as much as possible.

Spring is especially sweet – lighter evenings, ducklings on the river, and flowers everywhere. Easter cards don’t have to be bought – as is often the case, the nicest are homemade; tree decorations likewise can be hand-blown eggs painted with foodcolouring; and sweet treats can be whipped up in the kitchen – the sound of cash registers doesn’t necessarily need to drown out the sound of the first cuckoo.

Before we know it we’ll be digging out the winter woollies and putting the garden to bed for the winter, so let’s make the most of Easter and spring while they’re here.

I’ll raise a glass of elderflower presse to that.